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Thursday, 12 February 2015

Think positively and it will be positive!

Daf Yomi Kesubos 9

King David watched as the beautiful Bathsheba went out to
bathe on the rooftop of the adjacent building.In a fit of burning passion, he found himself inexplicably drawn to
her.Conspiring to be with her, he sent
her husband Uriah out to the frontlines of the battlefield and cohabited with
her.Following Uriah’s death on the battlefield,
David married Bathsheba.

The prophet Nathan subsequently appeared before King David
and chastised him for his ill-conceived actions. As punishment for his behaviour, he and
Bathsheba would lose a child.And indeed
no sooner was the baby born than he died.

The Gemara asks: Why was
Bathsheba not forbidden to marry David?

Rashi explains: A
woman who has an affair is subsequently forbidden to both her husband and her
lover.

Rabbi Shmuel bar
Nachmani quoted Rabbi Jonathan: Whoever would go out to war in David’s army
would write a gett (bill of divorce) to his wife.

Rabbeinu Tam explains:
The gett would take effect immediately just in case the husband did not come
back from the war.This way, the wife
would be freed from the uncertainty of being an agunah – chained woman, who
cannot remarry until she definitely knows her husband is dead.

No doubt many women were spared from the terrible plight of
spending their lives chained to their missing husbands.Nevertheless, in David’s case, this
injunction had unfortunate consequences.David capitalized on the fact that Uriah had divorced his wife and utilized
the opportunity to take her unto him.And presumably theirs wasn’t the only marriage negatively impacted by
the injunction.

There is no indication as to how long this injunction
remained in effect.Certainly, Israeli
soldiers who go out to war today don’t divorce their wives, thank G-d.After all, why would you set out assuming the
worst outcome?Instead, soldiers should
be promising their wives the world before setting off, knowing that, with G-d’s
help, they will be home soon.

When you set out with the assumption that things will turn
out bad, you are opening yourself up to negative energy and G-d forbid, you can
set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy.Instead of assuming the worst,
switch those negative thoughts to positive thoughts!And you will open yourself up to a purely
positive flow of Divine energy!

Even when things seem bleak, tell yourself: I know that
according the laws of nature, things may appear problematic.But G-d works in the supernatural!You may have been laid off from work, but the
Almighty can grant you a job earning twice as much in the blink of an eye.You may have received a bad medical report,
but only the Almighty holds the keys to good health and bad health.Keep thinking positively and the Divine light
will flow into your life and overpower the natural order!

A popular Yiddish adage says, “Tracht gut, vet zayn gut!” – think positively and it will be
positive!You have the ability to
determine the ultimate outcome by controlling whether to allow yourself to be
controlled by the natural order or to draw down supernatural energy into your life.May you merit a life filled with positivity
and may you always remain in control as the Divine energy emanates
throughout!